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Once in awhile, there comes an album that just blow you away.!! I did not know much about, what these guys have been doing, since they broke up Japan (80`s band). Just recently i discovered their contribution to music. This collaboration here, shows how much potential they really got. Here is David Sylvian shining, and on other projects, you see his brother; Steve Jansen, how also is a very competent musician. If you don`t know anything about these two brothers, then check out Nine Horses & Slope (Steve Jansen). You won't regret it.Not only is the music here brilliant, but also the fabulous production, which range way up there in the Audiophile World. I know for sure, that these recordings sound just awesome, at a decent setup. But for starters, just buy this album..!!

I really, really wanted to love this album, especially after 'Snow Borne Sorrow' which I think is one of the best albums of the last 30 years. But this contains little of the originality or uniqueness that made SBS take your breath away. Of the very few new tracks on here, 'Get The Hell Out' is disappointing and sounds like it was left over from the SBS sessions, discarded from that album. The only stand-out track is the haunting 'Birds Sing For Their Lives' which is, quite frankly, brilliant. The sad thing is that I'm saying that about the one track on the album on which David Sylvian doesn't sing!

His voice, on the other tracks, is as rich as always, but the songs themselves are not up to the SBS standard. Half the album is Burnt Friedman's remixes of SBS tracks - why???? Why not give us an entirely new album? The remixes sound like he simply put the same, rather bland backing track to each song - they don't sound new or exciting. When you get to the end and find a Friedman remix of one of the NEW tracks, you being to wonder if everyone's heart was only half in this album ....

It was a pleasant surprise to find out that Sylvian, Jansen and Friedman have decided to continue their musical union under the name Nine Horses. Their debut, Snow Borne Sorrow, was easily one of the strongest highlights of 2005. This extended play cd single includes remixes of three songs from SBS, though these versions pale in comparison to the originals.

So the real lure would be the new material, which shape up to be worthy additions to the Nine Horses canon. 'Money For All', a Sylvian and Friedman composition, contains elements of funky hip-hop, folky harmonica, bluesy guitar licks, and soulful harmonies. Sylvian's lyrics continue in the topically political vein that influenced a major portion of the group's debut. 'Get The Hell Out', a Sylvian and Jansen creation, is built around an upbeat techno rhythm (somewhat reminiscent of Massive Attack's recent output) overlayed with keyboard horns (somewhat reminiscent of Eno's Nerve Net) and densely orchestrated string samples. Sylvian's lyrics are rather vague on this one, yet the premise seems to revolve around an abused woman's search for a sense of safety. 'Birds Sing For Their Lives', also available on the Japanese version of SBS, is a Sylvian-Jansen collaboration with Stina Nordenstam handling the vocal and lyrics. Her voice, somewhat akin to Rickie Lee Jones crossed with Shelly Duval's take on Olive Oyl, at first seems to be a jarring contrast with the lush orchestration of this waltz-like ballad, yet it is this unique offbeat style that creates the idiosyncratic tone and tension, setting the piece apart from the dirgelike sound of Sylvian's ballads from the first Nine Horses release.

Hopefully this musical conglomeration will continue. This little teaser will definitely keep you wanting for more.